remington 81 woodmaster

[Rick Teal]

That rifle is a terrible piece of junk, and you don't want to touch it with an 11 foot Yugoslavian. :twisted:  

As a matter of fact, I feel so sorry for the person selling it to you, that I'll take it off his hands, so if you will please forward his contact information to me, I'll take it from there. :wink:

[jhm]

FEARLESS 2 You didnt say how much it was which usually matters somewhat when I make that kind of decision, but if the price is something I can live with and its something I dont have or never owned and its not being made anymore and in decent shape I usually jump on it and then think it over after, I have always liked the 300 sav. cal. dont see it that much down here anymore but when I lioved in Mich. years ago it was one of the best things going out of a savage 99f toped with a good weaver 1.5 x4.5 with flip mounts, oh hush my beating heart.   JIM

[Siskiyou]

The Model 81 was a favorite of law enforcement back in it's hayday. :blaster:  The reciever housing is to thin to properly install a scope mount.  Somewhere around I have a Lyman Tang sight for the Model 8 or 81.  I suspect it would work on both.

My Dad had one in .300 Sav. what he passed on to the youngest.  I think youngest sold it when his wife needed cigareette money. It seen most of it's use in heavy buck brush with most bucky encounters from 10 to 150 yards.  The excellant .300 Sav. round speaks for it's self.  I have reloaded it for years with no problems.  I must note that I never reload for the Model 8/81.  I suspect that best results would be with 3031 or 4895.  Better results would be to stick with factory ammo with this rifle and you send me your used brass. :grin:

Siskiyou

[L-Roy]

The rifle was used sucessfully, among other firearms, to take down Bonnie and Clyde by Texas Ranger Hamer and others.

[Siskiyou]

Don:

Good point.  Another is that in those days most L.E. officers had to provide their own duty weapons.  Reliability had to be a primary consideration.  When you are going up against killers you want a weapon that will function, and is easy to get into action.  When you reach out and touch the Bad Guy, you want a good weapon and the round to do the job.

Knowing the general hunting public I suspect that the rifle never had more then 500 rounds fire threw it in it's life.  If the owner divided his attention between a number of rifles you can decrease that number.  I know some old guys that have rifles that have not been fired in twenty years.

[Advocate]

What is a model 81?

[Siskiyou]

The Model 81 was/is a recoil operated semi-automatic rifle sold by Remington from 1936 until 1950.  The barrel was covered with a over sized shroud which protected the recoil system(spring).  It was sold in .30, .32. 35 Remington, and the .300 Savage.  On the used gun market the .35 Rem and .300 Savage bring more $.  It was an updated Model 8.

Note:  When it was introduced scopes were not a big factor in hunting yet.  It's design made successful mounting of a scope at best difficult.  The reciever housing was/is to thin to hold a scope under recoil.  I think that in todays world it could be done with screws and industrial glues.  But I would not mess up a good gun doing such a project.  I am sure it would drop in value.  It would be fun to own as an era rifle.  And respect it as such.  

It's replacement was the gas operated Remington 740 series.  Which allowed for scope mounting and for the 30-06 that WWII and Korean War Vets wanted.

Siskiyou

[Lee D.]

I have a model 8 in .32 rem and an 81 in 300 Sav.  There is no problem reloading as long as you stay close to factory.  Both guns are great fun to shoot.  But if you hunt with one you have to wait for the gun to finish cycling before you can shoot again.  Seems to take forever when you're in a hurry.

[TonyRumore]

I have a Model 8 35 Rem, that is equipped with a 15 round detachable magazine.  The mag is marked Police Officer's Equipment Corp and is serialized to match the gun.  Accuracy is pretty decent considering the reciprocating barrel and old buckhorn sights.  Off the bench it will put 5 rounds inside of 4" at 100 yards.

[red stevens]

My father left me a model 81 in 300 savage that is nearly new.  What is the value of this rifle?  I have not shot it yet but he had 8 boxes of shells that came with it and I intend to give it a workout soon.  This ammo is probably 40 years old, is it still ok to shoot this stuff? It probably has corrosive primers so I will thoroughly clean the rifle afterwords.
Red

[Siskiyou]

The ammo should be okay.  After making sure it is unloaded used a bore guide or great care when guiding a patch or brush down the barrel.  Lube with break-free afterwards.  

I would lightly pre-lube the action before taking it out.

Siskiyou